Working the ranch is the only thing I live for. It's hard work, long days, but it's all I know. I like being alone and being out here in the valleys of the mountains gives me the seclusion I crave. So when a gorgeous stranger takes shelter in one of my barns, I wonder how the hell she got there. But she isn't just anyone. Elena De Luca may look sweet and innocent, but her family is the reason my business is on the rocks. With her family's corruption and the blood they've spilled, it'll take years to get the Carter Cattle Ranch back to where it was. And now she needs something from me.
Safety. A place to heal. And what better place than a ranch in the middle of nowhere? She promises to make it right but trusting a De Luca is like making a deal with the devil, and she happens to wear lace.
Elena
It was my birthright to become the head of the De Luca mafia family. My father is dead, and the business is now mine. But you can't fix a man's fragile ego. When some of the men who are supposed to be loyal turn on me, I have no choice but to flee. What I don't expect to find is a grumpy cattle rancher who hates me just as much as the men who tried to kill me. Turns out I have more to fix than just the treason within my own ranks. So I make him a deal. Give me a place to stay while I fix the mess everyone else made, and I'll return his business to where it used to be. He doesn't believe I have the power to do so but I'm tired of men believing me to be weak. But all those long nights spent with him have me yearning for more than just my throne. I want the king too.
